


hold on, i still need you

by tardisthetrain



Category: Avengers: Endgame - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: And it's broken, Angst, F/M, Hurt, Major character death - Freeform, One-off, Other, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Lives 2k19, canon-divergent, extremely sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-27 08:22:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20042890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tardisthetrain/pseuds/tardisthetrain
Summary: It's taken Tony Stark five years to get Peter back, to put the pieces of his family back together, to build a simple life.The universe has other plans in mind.





	hold on, i still need you

**Author's Note:**

> For Keely, who definitely didn't ask for me to hurt her like this.

Everyone started fading away, a sight sickeningly similar to the last time Tony had faced Thanos. Ash spread through the air just as pain spread up his right side, burned fingers twitching numbly.

"Pepper..." He fell onto his knees, grabbing onto a chunk of broken concrete with his good hand, easing himself down. The world felt hazy, out of focus. "_Pep_... Where are you..." He leaned back, letting his eyes close.

"_I'm right here_," a voice whispered, and his eyes snapped open again. "I've got you... take it easy, Tony... _breathe_..." Pepper grabbed onto his left hand, her thumb brushing over his fingers, where the suit had broken and cracked, leaving his skin cut up and bruised. "You're okay, Tony... You did it..."

"Where's..." Tony coughed, the words burning on the tip of his tongue but the adrenaline fading away before he could get the words out. "_Peter_... Where's _Peter_?"

It took more effort than he cared to admit, to pull his good hand away from Pepper's grip, to sit himself up more. A figure moved somewhere on his right, getting his bearings, picking up the broken shield by his feet. Another shadow moved beside him, growing until it stood side-by-side with the Captain. More people started to appear, congregating towards the man in iron. Thor, Bruce, Steve, Scott... 

But no _Peter_.

"Where's _Peter_?" Tony asked again, louder this time. Pepper let a hand rest against his shoulder, trying to calm him as the panic started to rise. "Pep, where's Peter?"

He watched Steve in the corner of his eye, raising a hand to the piece in his ear. "Does anyone have eyes on Peter?"

The radio crackled in silence. Tony felt like he was going to be sick. The static was **roaring**.

"_I'm right here_," a voice said, groaning. "Anyone got eyes on the purple shitbag? I've got a bone I'd like to pick with him." _Quill_. Wrong Peter.

FRIDAY buzzed a gentle warning in Tony's ear, "_Boss, take a breath,_" but he ignored it. 

Steve reached up to touch his earpiece again. "_Queens_," he called. Tony's stomach turned when he heard the desperation in the captain's voice. "Kid, can you hear me?"

Pepper kept saying something, trying to calm Tony down, but he couldn't hear it. He could only hear the silence, the lack of answer. _Where's Peter where's Peter where's Peter..._

"_Does anyone have eyes on Peter Parker?_ I repeat, does _anyone_ have a visual on _Peter Parker_?"

Tony closed his eyes, dreading the answer, dreading the silence. He just wanted to hear the damn kid's voice, hear him say something _stupid_, make some stupid reference to something, _anything_. Five years. He'd waited _five goddamn years_ to get his kid back, saw him for just a _moment_ before shit hit the fan, and now...

"I've got eyes on him."

_Danvers_. Carol. Tony opened his eyes again, the faintest of glows from Carol's suit reflecting from above them. "Peter," he croaked. "Danvers, where... where is he..."

The glow moved further away, disappearing behind a mountain of rubble. The comm lines went quiet again, and Tony's patience was starting to wear thin, anxiety and terror taking hold. "**DANVERS**! Where's Peter!" His voice broke as he yelled. He tried getting up to his feet, but Pepper held him down. Rhodey's hand came down gently on Tony's other shoulder, the weight of the War Machine suit forcing Tony to stay where he was. The glowing light shot back up over the rubble, getting closer, back towards the ragtag group of weary Avengers.

"_Oh, god_," Steve breathed. "Get Strange. _SOMEBODY GET STRANGE!_"

The glow around Carol faded as her feet touched the ground, kneeling down just a few feet in front of Tony and Pepper and Rhodey. The others hurried towards them. Steve fell to his knees, Scott's hand moved to cover his mouth, a quiet, "_oh, god_," passing his lips. Bruce didn't speak, just stared at the sight, Thor hanging his head down in disbelief. As gently as she could, Carol set Peter down onto the ground, holding up his head on her knee.

The teen's head fell to the side. Blood had dried a bit at the top of his head, matting his hair down. The Iron-Spider suit had been torn, ripped up around his neck, his side, his hands. His lips parted slightly, and Tony could see, just barely, that a tooth or two had been knocked out, that blood was pooling in his mouth. Bruises were littering every inch of his skin, but it was worst at Peter's temple. The kid never looked so _pale_...

"Peter...?" Tony crawled forwards. Pepper and Rhodey didn't bother to try and stop him. He reached out with his good hand, grabbing the teen's hand in his own, giving it a tight squeeze. "Kid, can you hear me? Peter? _Talk to me kid,_ come on... _say something_."

Someone else floated down to the ground beside Tony, a cape shifting in the wind. He didn't even look up to see Strange, just croaked, "_Tell me he's okay_, Strange. _Tell me_..."

More people started to circle them, circle the teen held up between Tony and Carol. Rocket hesitated, muttering, "_He doesn't look so good_," to the two women standing next to him, to Nebula and Mantis, all of them just _staring_.

"_Strange_," Tony said again. "Strange, tell me... tell me he's just unconscious. _Tell me_ he'll be okay..."

The sorcerer stepped closer, kneeling down and taking Peter's other hand. The teen felt cold, his limbs limp. Stephen turned his hand over gently, fingers pressing delicately against his wrist, searching for a pulse. Tony felt like he was going to be sick, watching the look in Stephen's eyes as he waited, _waited_... The former surgeon set Peter's hand back against his side gently, leaning his ear over the boy's mouth. 

"_Say something_," Tony gasped. He squeezed Peter's hand tighter, but didn't get a reaction.

"Pulse is bradycardic," Strange said, sitting back up straight. "His heartbeat's too slow, he's... _barely breathing_, Tony. At a guess, the head trauma, it's... There's... nothing we can do..."

No. No, he'd waited five years to get Peter back. _Five_ _fucking years_, to get Peter back, to bring him _home_. He couldn't lose him now, not after _everything_ they went through. _Not now_.

Everyone went _silent_. Tony couldn't think of anything to say, anything to... He reached out, shaky hand cupping Peter's bruised face. He could hear the breaths rattling in his chest, hear how _painfully_ slow and broken they sounded. _Not now, please... don't let me lose him now_.

"Kid?" Tony croaked. "Peter... _Peter_, say something... Peter... _Wake up, please_..."

Rocket glanced up at Mantis, fidgeting by his side. She kept wringing her hands together, her antennae drooping lower. "Can you do anything?" he asked her, his voice quiet. She watched the pair of them, Tony and Peter, with sad, wide eyes, trying to focus on their thoughts, focus on the boy, on the light fading from him. Tony didn't even notice her walking closer, not until she was kneeling down by Peter's head, reaching out a hand.

"_Don't you dare touch him_," Tony snarled, eyes narrowing. Pepper followed, shaking her head at her husband, her hand on his shoulder, trying to provide some comfort to him.

"Tony," she said. "Let her help..."

She nodded over to Mantis, who reached out again, her fingertips touching the boy's temple, just above his left eye. Nebula stood behind her, Rocket next to her, watching as her antennae glowed faintly.

"_It's dark_," she said, her eyes closing. "He can't... It's _so dark_... He's... He's _scared_. He's so _lost_... Everything is... _distant._"

Rocket looked from the teen to the empath. "Can you... _can you wake him up_?" He'd seen her do it before, years ago, with Thor. If she could wake up Thor, she could wake up a teenager, couldn't she?

Mantis didn't speak, didn't say a word. Her antennae brightened for a second, before she pulled back and Peter coughed. Tony felt like the weight had been lifted, like he could finally breathe again.

"Peter, Peter, _breathe_, it's okay," he said. He squeezed his hand again, and this time, Peter squeezed back, his touch weak and faint, but there.

"_Mr Stark?_" Peter croaked. He choked over his breath, eyes fluttering open and staring blankly at the man. "Mr... _Stark_? Can you... _hear me_?"

"I hear ya, kid, I'm right here..."

Blood dripped from Peter's lips. "_Mr Stark, I'm_... I can't see... _I can't see_... Mr Stark... can you hear me? Can you... can you hear me?"

Carol hadn't said a word since she'd touched the ground, had just been staring at the boy, the wounded teen who's head rested against her knee. He was a _kid_. A **kid**... She looked over to Mantis, who had started to walk back to Rocket and Nebula, shaking her head.

"Why does he keep asking that?" she asked, feeling tears building up in the corners of her eyes.

"_He's so lost_," Mantis repeated. "He's _scared_..."

"Kid, I'm right here," Tony said. "Focus on my voice, kid. We're gonna patch you up, we're gonna get you _home_, okay? Peter?" Tears were falling freely down Tony's cheeks, making tracks through all the dirt and the ash on his skin. "We'll get you home to your aunt May, Pete... Just _hold on_, Pete... You're gonna be okay."

"_Mr Stark,_" Peter croaked again, his breaths fracturing. Blood dripped out of his mouth with every breath he took. "I'm _sorry_..."

"It's the head trauma," Stephen piped up, shaking his head. "The blow to his head, he can't... He can't _hear_, he can't _see_. Tony... Tony, he's got a _minute_ at best."

He'd given that news before, so long ago, before his world changed. He'd told people that their loved ones were dying, that they were brain dead, that there was nothing they could do. It never affected him then, but now... Now...

Tony wouldn't look up at anybody, just focusing on Peter. "_You're gonna be okay_," he repeated. "You're gonna be okay, Pete... Just hold on... hold on..." he kept mumbling, long after Peter's hand had fallen limp again, long after his breaths stopped coming. FRIDAY said something about his heartbeat, something about it stopping, something about Peter's suit AI trying to initiate a resuscitation protocol, but it wasn't working.

"You're gonna be okay, kid... _Just hold on, for me_..."

**Author's Note:**

> ** Tony has still snapped his fingers, leaving him badly wounded, but not killing him.
> 
> I am... so sorry.


End file.
